Lenovo 100,000 extended-life battery recall chaos

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 02 March 2007 07:52

Your IT - Entertainment

The battery recall scandals of 2006 have been recharged in 2007 by Lenovo’s massive new recall of 100,000 batteries, this time manufactured by Sanyo.

Well, at least it’s not Sony batteries being recalled again, what with all the current PS3 scandals Sony must surely be breathing a sigh of relief. No, this time the batteries have been manufactured by Sanyo, with a recall put out by both the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (U.S. CPSC) and Lenovo themselves.

According to the U.S. CPSC, the extended-life lithium-ion batteries represent a fire hazard, and users are warned to stop using the batteries immediately.

The specific battery hazard shows us all how carefully modern batteries must be treated. According to the CPSC, this is the hazard: “If the battery in the laptop is struck forcefully on the corner, such as from a direct fall to the ground, the battery pack can overheat and pose a fire hazard to users. This is not an internal battery cell defect”.

Already, the CPSC tells us, “Lenovo has received four reports of batteries overheating and damaging the notebook. This caused damage to the notebook computers, minor property damage and, in one case, minor eye irritation to one consumer”.

The extended-life batteries were either sold with, or were available as optional or replacement batteries for a range of ThinkPad notebook models. These include the R60 and R60e, the T60 and T60p, the Z60m, Z61e, Z61m, and Z61p.

The recalled 9-cell batteries have the following part number, which can be found on the battery label: FRU P/N 92P1131.

Affected users are advised to “stop using the recalled batteries and contact Lenovo for additional information and to receive a free replacement battery. Consumers should use only ThinkPad batteries obtained from either Lenovo or an authorized reseller”.

Lenovo’s US contact details are at (800) 426-7378 anytime, while the official Lenovo Battery Recall website not only has other contact details but also allows you to “determine if the battery is part of the recall and to order a replacement battery”.